The Conversation spoke to Gov. Josh Green about the news that a major golf tournament, The Sentry at Kapalua on Maui, is pulling out of plans for January because of the poor course quality due to drought conditions.
The course owner sued Maui Land & Pineapple, blaming it for not making necessary repairs to its water system, which had added to the woes of the dry conditions and water restrictions.
The company is said to be in early talks for the county to acquire part of the water infrastructure.
Green said the drought on Maui has been serious, and though they’ve authorized water to get to the region and golf course, they cannot risk another fire.
“We also have to be mindful of the possible impact that the drought is taking, and we cannot risk another fire,” he said.
“We cannot risk closing homeowners in Maui to extra dry conditions. So the golf tournament and the sponsors made the decision that we simply had to prioritize our local people. That is their commitment. They're still committed to supporting Maui with philanthropy, but the golf tournament couldn't go on based on their standards with dry grounds.”
The PGA Tour hosts two other events in Hawaiʻi. The 2026 Sony Open will be still be held at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, while the PGA TOUR Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Championship will be played on Hawaiʻi Island at Hualālai Golf Club.
Green told HPR that he has not heard of any changes for these events, so he hopes and expects that they will go forward.
Green also met with Tadashi Yanai, the owner of Kapalua, and Green said Yanai is more than happy to do the necessary repairs to the water system on Maui.
“I hope that they can work out their differences. It's not my place to get involved in a legal dispute between two private entities, but it would be good if people can take one another up on their generosity and offers like that. That's always great, because it's one less thing that the state or the county has to fund,” Green said.
Central to the issue is how much water should be devoted to certain industries — in this case, tourism.
“So it's a very complex question, and it cannot be simply distilled down to a conflict between two entities. It's all of us deciding how much water we're willing to use and how much in the way of population we can sustain.”
Also in this interview, Green discussed how Hawaiʻi has joined a health alliance with the three West Coast states out of concern about federal recommendations for COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccines. Green said he plans to issue an emergency proclamation next week.
HPR plans to air more from this discussion Friday during The Conversation – on the governor’s recent meeting with Pope Leo XIV, and on military land leases.
This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 18, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
